Bathroom safety liner



May 19; `1964 H. G. SPIER 3,133,292

- .BATHROOM SAFETY LINER Filed Aug. 6, 1962 INVENTOR. f4/VS 6: .5P/19 BY@MM2/5M A TTU/@NEX United States Patent Oiiice 3,133,292 Patented May19, 1964 3,133,292 BATHROM SAFETY LINER Hans G. Spier, 1 Prince EdwardsLane, Media, Pa. Filed Aug. 6, 1962, Ser. No. 215,181 1 Claim. (Cl.4-185) In general, this invention relates to a new and improved safetyliner for stall showers and bathtubs. More particularly, it relates to asafety liner which can be secured to a bathtub or a stallshower withoutsuction cups or straps to provide a decorative, easily cleaned, and safeliner.

In the past, stall showers have been lined with foam rubber cushions andrubber mats which had to be held in place by straps or suction cups.Both of these methods of securing the liner to the bathtub had distinctdisadvantages. Water could get under the mat and it would tend to iioattherefore becoming unsuitable for its intended purpose. Thus suction cupunits tend to loose their suction after continued use and also lift upfrom the bathtub or shower iioor.

Additionally, both of these prior art units make no provision forsecuring the liner around fixtures in the tub or shower.

It is the general object of this invention to avoid and overcome theforegoing and other difficulties of prior art practices by the provisionof a new and improved protective safety liner for stall showers andbathtubs.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedprotective safety liner for stall showers or bathtubs in which allpoints on which an accidental body impact due to a fall or slippage arecovered.

Another object of this invention is to provide a better protectivesafety liner for metal stall showers and bathtubs which can be custombuilt to the dimensions of the unit.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of awater-tight liner for a stall shower or bathtub which can besemipermanently bonded without damage to the tub or shower finish.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a new and betterprotective safety liner for bathtubs and showers which provides aresilient cushion decorative in nature and easily cleanable.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and betterprotective safety liner for stall showers and bathtubs which may beeasily mounted and will be resistant to water, soaps, detergents andconventional bath salts.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and betterprotective safety liner for stall showers and bathtubs having acalendered or quilted pattern on the exposed lining surface.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention there is shown in thedrawings forms which are presently prefeired; it being understood,however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangementsand instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 2 is a pictorial view of a bathtub provided with a custom builtprotective safety liner designed in accordance with the principles ofthe present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view of the bathtub of FIGURE 1 takenalong lines 2 2.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional View of the right side of the bathtubshown in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a pictorial view of a stall shower provided with protectivesafety liners in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional View of the bottom of the stall showershown in FIGURE 4 taken along lines 5 5.

Referring to FIGURE 1, there is shown therein an installation generallydesignated by the numeral 10 including a bathtub 12 mounted against awall 14.

The bathtub 12 has a front edge 16 and a back edge 18. The back edge 18is flush against a second wall 26 at right angles to Wall 14. Thebathtub 12 has one side edge 20 abutting wall 14. A second side edge 22is parallel to the side edge 20.

The bathtub 12 has a basin portion 24. Hot and cold water valves 28mounted on wall 26 control the flow of water through a faucet 30 adaptedto till the basin 24 with water.

Within the basin 24, there is mounted a custom built protective safetyliner 33 buit in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention. The safety liner 33 has a flanged outer edge portion 32adapted to t over top edges 16, 18, 20 and 22 of the bathtub 12.

The safety liner 33 is adapted to be placed against the metal orporcelain Wall 34 of the basin 24. The liner 33 consists of an outerexposed layer 36 of a solid elastomer, or flexible thermo-plastic, orthe like, and an inner layer 40 consisting of closed cell foam rubber ofthe natural or synthetic type.

The exposed layer 36 is preferably made of polyethylene,polyvinylchloride, or Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene) in order torender the layer resistant to chemical, abrasive or other mechanicalattack. This surface layer can contain woven or otherwise positionedfibers as a means of reinforcement and/or decoration, or as a means ofproviding anti-slippage properties. Also, layer 36 is impervious towater, soap, detergents, shampoo, etc. As can be seen in FIGURE 3, theouter layer has an ernbossed or molded profile pattern 38 on its exposedsurface so as to provide better anti-slipping qualities. In theparticular embodiment shown, the profile pattern 3S is quilted.

The outer layer 36 is adapted to overlie the inner foam rubber layer 4i)along all exposed edges of the safety liner 33. This outer flangedportion 32 insures that the inner foam rubber portion 40 is not exposedto water, soap or the like.

The anged portion 32 is adhesively secured to the metal tub portion 34by a waterproof permanently soft gum or adhesive coating 42. Thiscoating allows the liner to be removed for replacement without damage tothe metal finish, whether porcelainized, painted or unpainted. The drainpipe 44 of the bathtub 12 is not covered by the liner 33. Rather, anopening 45 is made in the bottom of the liner 33 and a flanged extensionof the layer 36 is formed around the drain 44 and designated by thenumeral 46. A similar provision is made about the faucet It can readilybe seen that all rims and edges of the bathtub which one mightaccidentally hit are provided with a continuous resilient cushion so asto limit injuries due to a fall or slippage in the tub.

In FIGURE 4, there is shown protective safety liners of standard sizewhich can be utilized in a stall shower 50. The stall shower 50 has sidewalls 52 and 56 and a back wall 54.

Protective safety liners 58, 60 and 62 are adhesively secured to walls52, S4 and 56 respectively. The bottom 64 of the stall shower 50 iscovered with a protective liner 66 having provision for uncovering thedrain 68.

As can be seen in FIGURE 5, the bottom protective liner 66 is similar inconstruction to the liner 33 shown in FIGURE l. Liner 66 includes aclosed cell foam rubber layer 70 covered with an exposed layer 72 havingoverlying flanged portions 74 and 76 which are adapted to be adhesivelysecured to the bottom 64 of the shower 50.

It can readily be seen that the safety liner of the present inventioncan be manufactured in various shapes and sizes in accordance with theneeds of the user. For example, one liner 58 is secured to Wall 52. Ifdesired, liner 58 may be made smaller so that four or more such linerswould be required to cover the same space.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and,accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claim, rather thanto the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

I claim:

A protective liner for bathtubs and showers comprising a resilientlayer, a Water and soap repellent layer bonded to said resilient layer,said repellent layer having edge portions overlapping edges of saidresilient layer, and an adhesive coating on an exposed surface of saidedge portions for securing said repellent layer to a supporting surface,said adhesive coating securing said layers in a manner whereby theprotective liner can be removed for replacement without damage to thesupporting surface.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1()2,055,629 Marvin Sept. 29, 1936 2,080,601 Cappuccio May 18, 19372,264,672 Levine Dec. 2, 1941 3,045,254 Cook et al. July 24, 1962

